Aberdeen Appoints Craig Brown

10 Dec 2010 19:43:03

Former Scotland boss takes charge at Pittodrie along with former European Cup-Winners Cup winning assistant manager Archie Knox. ABERDEEN'S new management team will be headed up by former Scotland boss Craig Brown and Sir Alex Ferguson's former assistant at Aberdeen during the 80s glory years, Archie Knox. The appointment was all but confirmed when the pair left their positions at Motherwell on Thursday night, but has finally been confirmed by AFC. The pair have signed two-and-a-half year contacts at the club. This announcement ends several days of untidy communication and backtracking, particularly from Brown himself who persisted in speaking to the media during the week and making several contrary statements in the build-up to his appointment. The confusion started when firstly Aberdeen-Mad forum member 'donsman' reported that Stewart Milne, Willie Miller and Duncan Fraser were holding a meeting with Archie Knox in the office across the road from his work. It transpired that Brown was also there, and Motherwell were forced to release a face-saving statement, backed up by Brown, claiming their manager was going nowhere. AFC then released a statement saying that no one had been offered the job, and any meetings were simply "due diligence" - a phrase repeated by Brown. The undignified media-based to-ing and fro-ing continued when Brown announced that Milne made a follow-up phone call offering the job. There were continued quotes in the press from Brown as he attempted to appease both sides without wanting to close any doors at Pittodrie or Fir Park in the face of continued speculation. After much column space, radio time and forum bandwidth was filled with discussion, denials and even what appeared to be direct quotes from Brown saying flat-out that he would not take the job, it was announced on Thursday night that he and Knox had quit Fir Park. Aberdeen then announced on Friday morning that an announcement would be made later in the day and finally Brown was unveiled as Aberdeen's new manager on Friday afternoon. Appointing septuagenarian Brown is in many ways bewildering for a club with loftier ambitions than merely escaping relegation and finishing mid-table. He has managed Clyde, Preston and Motherwell at club level to varying degrees but none which could be described as successful. His time in charge of the Scottish national team is seen with the benefit of hindsight as a massive success compared to everything that followed, but it is a persuasive argument that his policy of picking solid, unremarkable 30-somethings put back the youth development in this country by decades and led to dour, defensive and unspectacular football. And he is about as far away from an exciting managerial choice as it is possible to imagine. Brown has no long-term future at AFC, will not be poached by a bigger club even if he does well, and will not win us the league, and therefore in those terms AFC have nothing to gain from it at all. On the other hand, the stark facts are that Aberdeen are currently in second-bottom place in the SPL and have by many accounts a shambolic dressing room, and the Brown/Knox partnership could be exactly what is needed in the short term. They will certainly be tasked with not only ensuring the team avoids relegation, but climbs the table, achieves some sort of stability and finds some form with what is clearly a decent group of players. They also have a cup semi-final against Celtic to look forward to that could see them lead a Dons team to a cup final for the first time in 10 years. If this was to be a short-term appointment - and it's hard to believe that, with all due respect, managers of their age could be anything but - then it gives the AFC board several months to target a long-term managerial replacement, or at least keep a close eye on potential bosses. Despite reservations, Aberdeen-Mad will always give every new Dons manager its full support and a fair crack at the whip, and with that in mind we welcome Craig Brown and Archie Knox on board the good trawler Stand Free! Subscribe to Updates Via Email | Recieve News Updates Via RSS Latest Topics From the Stand Free Message Board Click here to share your views with other Dons Fans